Hitler burned books, and we here in America were outraged. Such behavior flew in the face of the spirit of freedom which we have always claimed to hold dear. “Thank God such things can't happen here in America,” we said.

But guess what? It HAS happened here – and would no doubt more often, if certain people were to have their way. They claim their motives are different, of course – but what else would you expect from folks who have dedicated their lives to telling us what we can or cannot read, as opposed to suggesting what we should or should not read.

They’ve somehow become convinced that they are the only ones who have been blessed from on high with sufficient enlightenment to know the difference between good and bad, right and wrong, valuable and worthless. And they honestly believe they’re correct in shoving that so-called enlightenment down the collective throats of the rest of us less fortunate, less enlightened nabbobs.

They create movements to get The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn removed from our schools and public libraries, on the basis that a certain admittedly unacceptable word is used throughout the book. Their claim is that the use of the word makes the novel racist, ignoring the fact that the novel actually provides one of the greatest arguments against racism in American literature.

They make up lists of what books are good and wholesome and what books are evil, based on narrow-minded preconconceived notions and inaccurate word of mouth – and more often than not without ever actually having read the books they are protesting. Once upon a time they would distribute those lists door-to-door in the hopes of converting a few more concerned parents to their cause.Nowadays it’s easier to simply post their misinformation on the Internet, trusting in the public’s willingness to accept such things at face value. (“Well, if it’s on the Internet it MUST be true!” Ha!! Wanna bet?)

Some of these groups are a little easier to please than others. If they can’t persuade the libraries to get rid of the offending titles, perhaps they can convince the publishing houses to distribute new, “cleaner” versions. It’s not hard. We’ll just edit out all the offending passage, and then we can read what’s left.

Except there won’t be much left. Some of the greatest works of literature will become so condensed that even Reader’s Digest wouldn’t touch them. For that matter, we’d be losing a pretty good chunk of the Bible if we were to take out the sex and violence. How much is lost in the telling of the acsension of Solomon to the throne of Israel make without first reading of the story of David and Bathsheba? Think about it.

Even the comics have not been immune. Some years back a group called the Concerned Parents Monitoring Comics decreed that modern comic strips are not the bastion of safe family entertainment that they once were. Hagar The Horrible was said to promote poor manners, and presents a bad role model for the kiddies. Beatle Bailey was anti-military propaganda (unlike, I suppose, that great bastion of America’s military superiority, Gomer Pyle).And - get this! – the group called Dennis The Menace “an obvious attempt to subvert authority figures.”

Of course, the group didn’t think ALL comics are bad for us. Their list of “positive” strips included Marvin and Garfield. But – myohmy! Doesn’t Marvin teach children how to manipulate their parents? Isn’t Garfield promoting slovenliness, apathy, rudeness, and overeating? Is the big orange cat really such a great role model?

Frankly, such rantings always leave me a little disgusted. What gives somebody else the right to tell me that I can’t read what I want to read? Granted, there are a lot of books out there I wouldn’t be caught dead reading – but that’s because they don’t appeal to me as a reader, not because somebody told me it’s wrong to read them. If they do appeal to some other reader, fine. Live and let live. The fact that a friend of mine likes William Faulkner and I don’t has no bearing on either our friendship or our opinion’s of the other person’s taste. Or it shouldn’t, at any rate.

What it boils down to is this: everyone has his or her own distinct taste, in literature as in all other things, and nobody has the right to forcefully inflict his own tastes upon soemone else. You don’t like the fact that Huckleberry Finn reflects the attitudes of the time in which it was written? Fine. You refuse to read H.G. Wells because he was a Socialist? Dandy. You turn your back on Batman comics because you think they’re too violent? Be my guest. That’s your choice, your decision, and I respect you for it.

But do NOT tell me I can’t read Twain, Wells or Batman. I happen to like them, and I don’t care what anyone thinks of me because of it. And don’t tell me I need to repent just because my home library happens to include a copy of Of Mice And Men, because it just ain’t so.

About Me

John Allen Small

Tishomingo, Oklahoma

John A. Small is an award-winning newspaper journalist, columnist and broadcaster whose work has been honored by the Oklahoma Press Association, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press, the National Newspaper Association, and the Oklahoma Education Association. He and his wife Melissa were married in 1986; they have two sons, Joshua Orrin (born 1991) and William Ian (born 1996).
Mr. Small is the News Editor and columnist for the Johnston County Capital-Democrat, a weekly newspaper headquartered in Tishomingo, OK. He obtained his nickname, "Bard of the Lesser Boulevards," from a journalism colleague - the late Phil Byrum - in recognition of the success of his popular newspaper column, "Small Talk." (In addition to the many awards the column itself has received over the years, a radio version of "Small Talk" earned an award for "Best Small Market Commentary" from the Society of Professional Journalists in 1998.)
John was born in Oklahoma City in 1963; lived in the Bradley-Bourbonnais-Kankakee area of Illinois for most of the next 28 years (with brief sojourns in Texas and Athens, Greece, thrown in to break up the monotony); then returned to his native state in 1991, where he currently resides in the Tishomingo/Ravia area. He graduated from Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School in 1981, and received his bachelor's degree in journalism from Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais in 1991. The years between high school and college were a period frought with numerous exploits and misadventures, some of which have become the stuff of legend; nobody was hurt along the way, however, which should count for something.
In addition to his professional career as a journalist he has published two short story collections: "Days Gone By: Legends And Tales Of Sipokni West" (2007), a collection of western stories; and "Something In The Air" (2011), a more eclectic collection. He was also a contributor to the 2005 Locus Award-nominated science fiction anthology "Myths For The Modern Age: Philip Jose Farmer's Wold Newton Universe," edited by Win Scott Eckert. In additon he has written a stage play and a self-published cookbook; served as project editor for a book about the JFK assassination entitled "The Men On The Sixth Floor"; and has either published or posted on the Internet a number of essays, stories and poems.
He has also won writing awards from the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the National Library of Poetry. He is a past president of the Johnston County Chamber of Commerce in Tishomingo; was a charter member and past president of the Johnston County Reading Council, the local literacy advocacy and "friends of the library" organization; served as Johnston County's first-ever Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in 1994-95; served two terms as chairman of the Johnston County (OK) Democratic Party; and has taught journalism classes for local Boy Scout Merit Badge Fairs. He is a member of the New Wold Newton Meteorics Society.